The Russian elite is discussing the removal of Russian President Vladimir Putin from being dictator, according to a new incriminating report.
Meduza, a Latvia-based news website, has reported that sources close to the Kremlin have said that Putin is the source of dissatisfaction among those for and against the war he has waged in Ukraine.
Sources close to the Kremlin said that a future without the president “is being discussed more and more” and that talks about his successor are taking place “behind the scenes in the Kremlin”.
Medusa cites major Russian business and political figures who are unhappy with Putin’s decision to continue the bloody war in Ukraine, as well as with the consequent Western scale of sanctions on the Russians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is under increasing pressure from Russia (Image: Getty Images) Read more related articles Read more related articles
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, former President Dmitry Medvedev and First Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko are all Putin’s favorites and allies to replace the current Kremlin leader, according to Mirror Online.
The report says that while the talks do not involve efforts to overthrow Putin “right now and a conspiracy … is being prepared”, there is a desire that in the “rather predictable future the state will not rule.”
Medusa reports that a source says that everyone in power knows that the only way Putin will step down as prime minister is “only if his health deteriorates severely.” Thus, currently “the dissatisfaction of senior officials is not manifested in anything except talking to each other.”
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin were recently photographed together (Image: Getty Images)
The report follows the news that Putin survived an assassination attempt shortly after ordering the invasion of Ukraine.
Major General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Kyiv’s military intelligence, told Ukrainska Pravda that “there were attempts to kill Putin.”
He said the impact attempt “completely failed” but “really happened about two months ago”.
Anders Åslund, a former senior member of the Atlantic Council think tank, wrote in the Kyiv Post that there is something wrong with Moscow. He said this after Putin pledged to “purify” Russia of the traitors and ordered the arrest of one of its top military commanders.
Ukrainian General Kyrylo Budanov confirmed that there have been attempts to eliminate Putin (Image: gov.ua)
Åslund said: “The question is not whether Russia is in crisis. How serious the crisis is and whether it is enough to worry Putin.”
General Budanov also said that a coup to overthrow Putin was under way and that it would be impossible to stop it.
He said he was “optimistic” about Russia’s defeat and that if it happened, it would probably lead to Putin’s removal from power.
This comes when the British Ministry of Defense claims that Russia has lost as many soldiers during the first three months of the war in Ukraine as during the ten-year Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
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